1. Field of the invention
This invention pertains to apparatus for holding and containing gathered cord and more specifically to apparatus suitable for tidying otherwise unsightly appliance cords.
2. Description of the prior art
It is not uncommon for numerous electrical appliances to be left in the open on countertops in such rooms as kitchens and bathrooms and in such work areas as home shop work benches. Electrical cords can be snugged up to outlets in some cases and become somewhat tidy. In other instances, cords can be tacked neatly to the floor or wall when the appliance base is located some distance from the plug, provided the base is left permanently located in a single place of use.
However, there are many times when neither of the above conditions exist. For example, a hair dryer does not remain on the counter in one location, but is most conveniently picked up for use and placed down when not in use. In order to be put in a condition that is somewhat sightly when not in use, hair dryers are often unplugged all together and put away in a drawer. However, a hair dryer or similar appliance that is put away must be set up again before it can be used in spite of the fact that it is intended to be left plugged in ready for use and merely turned off by its on/off switch.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,429, commonly owned, describes a bathroom electrical appliance caddy that accommodates electrical appliances in a cabinet-mounted housing that can be readily slid out of the cabinet when one or more appliances carried therein is ready for use and put away when not in use. However, appliances with long and/or ungainly cords located on one or both shelves of such a caddy are often left in an unsightly condition. The cords are just tossed back onto the housing shelves of the housing before the housing is slid back into the cabinet. Loose cords can subsequently tangle or knock off items from their shelves when subsequently pulled out.
In some installations, cords are purposely curled or retracted. For example, it is common for the handset of a telephone to be connected to its base by a curled cord that tightly winds up when the handset is returned to its cradle. However, most appliances do not come with such curled cords and it is not convenient to replace cords that come with most appliances with such self-policing cords.
Cords have been tidied in the past in many ways by persons not pleased with either the unsightly appearance of such cords or perhaps because unsightly cords can become tangled and therefore potentially hazardous. Tangled cords, for example, that are assumed not to be tangled when tugged can drag undesired items with them. To keep this from happening, long cords have been tied in knots by their users or twist ties have been used to join gathered loops of cords together. Some appliances come with cylindrical clamps that encircle a gathered cord mass to semi-permanently clamp a predetermined number of loops together to foreshorten the cord. None of these methods are particularly useful for gathering and holding cords together in a temporary gather that can be quickly and conveniently subsequently released to allow gathering again in a different manner, for instance with more or less cord loops.
Therefore, it is a feature of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus that can be employed with loosely gathered appliance cords or the like to make them more tidy than they otherwise would be.
It is another feature of the present invention to provide an improved cord clasp that is of little trouble to manipulate and readjust and can be used with almost any appliance cord in common use.